FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020

With the support of Toitū Envirocare, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has successfully reduced its total greenhouse gas emissions by ten percent, a recent audit reveals.

Following certification under the internationally recognised Toitū carbonreduce scheme (formerly CEMARS) in December 2018, the EPA has worked hard to drive down its emissions.

The EPA’s Chief Executive, Dr Allan Freeth, says “Given that our work as New Zealand’s environmental regulator is centred on environmental protection, it makes sense that we do our utmost as an organisation to reduce our carbon footprint.”

“Only ten government organisations are Toitū carbonreduce certified. We are very pleased to stand with EECA, the Ministry for the Environment, Antarctica NZ, and six district health boards in committing to managing our organisation responsibly, and being open and transparent along this journey.”

The EPA has committed to reduce emissions per full-time equivalent employee by 1 July 2021 over three target areas - eight percent from electricity use, fifteen percent reduction in waste to landfill, and eight percent from emissions related to staff travel.

“These are challenging targets, however our most recent audit – covering the 2018/19 financial year - has shown that we are making reductions that exceed these numbers. We are excited to keep up this momentum, working to reduce emissions beyond our certification commitments”, says Dr Freeth.

“It was great to see the motivation and drive with which the EPA Team started on their journey to Toitū carbonreduce certification. After setting a baseline measurement last year, they instantly set things in motion and implemented reduction strategies to achieve an impressive 10% drop in their emissions.” says Ronja Lidenhammar, Technical Account Manager at Toitū Envirocare.

“I congratulate them on their progress, and I look forward to seeing more impressive reductions over years to come”.

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